Centennial, CO — A sold-out crowd packed the stands at Centennial Stadium despite thunderstorms causing an hour-long weather delay. The lines for merchandise and food trucks, hastily reopened after the storm passed and underprepared for the swarm of fans, stretched into the short space between the metal bleachers and stadium fencing. The queues crawled as the clock ticked closer to the rescheduled kickoff. Many fans were still waiting when the match started.
These weren’t the longest lines of the day, though; that prize goes to the 250-yard long queue that began forming as early as 3:00 PM, four hours before the game had originally been scheduled to start. That line, which was on its way to encircling two full soccer fields before personnel started turning fans away, was for many the main event on Saturday. Under a large Denver Summit tent, accompanied by photographers, sat #1 NYT Best selling author Rebecca Yarros, ready to sign copies of her wildly popular fantasy dragon novel from 2023, Fourth Wing.
Yarros arrived at the tailgate, located on one of the Summit’s training fields that sits across the street from the stadium, at 5:00 p.m. sharp. She was scheduled to sign books for an hour, with staff estimating she’d get through 100 books. Before her stretched a line filled with hundreds of eager fans, most of whom had been there for hours, despite the Summit’s official communication stating that queuing would begin at 4:30 p.m. Fifteen minutes before Yarros arrived, Summit staff began turning fans away, and by 5:30 p.m., the latter half of the line was being directed to a conciliatory book-stamper due to time constraints. Those who didn’t get a signature instantly flocked to the tailgate’s Fourth Wing x Denver Summit merch tent, which promptly sold out, forcing fans inside the stadium to the other two limited edition merch locations. The supply inside Centennial was quickly depleted, with hundreds of fans now inside the stadium as rain clouds floated over the complex. Within minutes, the merch-seeking fans were soaked; the cold metal bleachers did little to protect them from the downpour.
Once the clouds had cleared and fans, clad with a now-wet Fourth Wing scarf or shirt, climbed to their seats, the vibes were unaffected. The Summit dominated the first 45 minutes of the match, and entered halftime up 1-0 after a looping strike from Delanie Sheehan snuck in at the back post. The stadium was rowdy, with the 14ers, Denver’s supporters’ group, leading a full-stadium signature “climb” chant early in the match. During the break, Yarros starred on the big screen and led a round of Fourth Wing trivia with two on-field contestants.
The stars of the show, however, were a pair of fans wearing inflatable dragon costumes — some of the only attendees who dressed appropriately for the theme. The dragons made their way into the supporters’ section around the 67th minute, where they took a turn playing the 14ers’ drums and stole the stadium’s attention as Denver played on to retain their 2-1 lead. As an experience, the Summit’s Fourth Wing night fell short of a spectacle, but its charm was one of Denver pride.
Yarros’ website boasts of 17 upcoming Fourth Wing partnerships with sports teams across the United States between now and January 24, in addition to the tens which have already taken place in the last few months. (Yarros herself won’t be at most of the other Fourth Wing-themed nights, save for three also happening in Colorado.) This extraordinary marketing push is so widespread that Major League Baseball has a page on their website dedicated to buying tickets to Fourth Wing-themed games.
The rationale for hosting these nights from a marketing perspective is clear — Yarros’ fanbase primarily consists of young women, a demographic where sports, and women’s sports in particular, are surging in popularity. After all, Fourth Wing’s popularity was spurred on by BookTok, a subculture on TikTok where users discuss and share popular book recommendations. Engaging these fans through in-person book signings and specific themes they are already familiar with, however odd those partnerships may seem, makes sense. There’s also the monetary incentive — the Colorado Rapids are selling Fourth Wing ticket packages ranging from $90-$190 a seat, far exceeding the regular $26 ticket fee. The VIP packages include a signed book plate, limited edition jacket, and Q&A with Yarros, in addition to a photo opportunity with the author after the match.
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Yarros lives in Colorado, and has previously visited or plans to visit the Colorado Rapids, Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, and Colorado Springs Switchbacks, a USL Championship side. If one thing is clear, it’s that Yarros likes sports. Alongside quotes from her various novels and promotional posts for interviews she’s done, the author’s Instagram page is filled with pictures of her in different jerseys at different stadiums, most commonly those of the Denver-based teams.
Yarros isn’t the first author to get her book into stadiums, but she might be the one to prove it can be consistently done. Just last year, the Boston Red Sox held a “Heated Rivalry night”, which ranked as the club’s most successful theme night in its history after 12,000 tickets sold out within 48 hours. Other media properties like Star Wars and Barbie have found their way into baseball stadiums, but these events are largely one-offs or are contained to baseball. Yarros’ multi-sport, year-long, consistent barrage of Fourth Wing nights is unprecedented, and could represent a potential future for sports engagement.
Traditionally, theme nights are centered around broader topics such as cultural heritage or widely recognized areas of popular culture. The Denver Summit’s other theme nights are fairly run of the mill, and perfectly exemplify the bare minimum; the club hosted or will be hosting a Pride night, Hispanic heritage match, Indigenous peoples’ heritage match, and fan appreciation night. Place Fourth Wing night in that lineup, and one sticks out like a sore thumb. Yet, there is potential for future theme nights to be built on the Fourth Wing model, and the opportunity for sports teams to convert new fans from the pre-existing Yarros fanbase is an extraordinary one.
Rather than running the same three or four theme nights every year, borrowing from Yarros’ strategy and introducing “touring” theme nights that appear across different games in different cities makes the event feel more like an experience, allowing for the drama of a theme night “coming” to a certain city, just as a concert would. The effect is already taking hold — under each of Yarros’ sports-related Instagram posts, fans flood the comments with pleas for Fourth Wing to feature at their location.
The events introduce a whole new demographic to soccer. Getting people in the door is the most important factor, and while trying to entice an entirely separate demographic seems difficult, it’s worth it if it works. The Denver Summit’s Fourth Wing night wasn’t an all-dragon, all-dress-up affair, but if the line stretching two soccer fields signifies anything, it’s that the demand is there. Finding another author so willing to organize these events as Yarros may prove to be a difficult task, but it won’t be an impossible one.
As sports navigate ever-changing attention spans, drawing in new fans while keeping current ones engaged is a challenge every team must confront. As evidenced by the turnout on a rainy Saturday night at Centennial stadium, perhaps unusual partnerships, like dragon novels and soccer teams, will be the ones that weather the storm.
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